Paint.



tinrrn s ATES wen rain.

No Drawing.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MERRIWEATHER J.

"W'AUu-n, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding in Lincoln, Lancaster county, Nebraska, have invented certaln new and useful In' provements in Paints, of which the following is a specification.

Paints as now made and used have not the requisite elasticity and adhesiveness necessary to compensate for the expansion and contraction of wood or iron to which they are applied, due to the varying climatic conditions, thus causing the paint coat to split into small squares-a failure usually ca ed checking.

t is the essential object of this invention to produce a paint of requisite physical and chemical body.to withstand such temperature changes, the paint having a maximum of elasticity and adhesive power corresponding substantially with that of the expansion and contraction of the painted surface. thus rendering the same climate proof.

An important feature of this improved climatic paint is that the same basic formula can, by regular modifications, be especially adapted for distril'iution throughout sectionsof varied climates, In arid clin'iates the chief destructive agencies are sunlight and excessive heat,,-t0gether with frequent abrupt' tempe-ature changes which cause serious movements of the painted surface by contraction and expansion. In order to compensate for this. it is evident that a paint subject-to these actions must be of maxin'ium elasticity and adhesive power. In humid climates the paint coatis always provided with a suflieient amount of mois-.

ture to prevent its becoming. either brittle or hard, and the difficulty under these I611- cumstances is to maintain the coat of sufficient hardness to prevent its becoming fouled by dust or bruised by weaiz' (See co- 'iending applications Serial Nos. 568.531;

acaaae; 568.646; and 568,989.)

lbis'invcntion consists primarily in the cstal'ilishinent of n'icans of making a con-- trollable paint coat of heterogeneous chemical and physical structure. Acoarse pigment of chemically stable. character and crystalline structure is ei'nployed to furnish points for capillary action. for giving a coat of sutlicient thickness. To fill the spaces be-' tween these coarse particles, pigments of great fineness are added, both fonihe purpose of shielding the easily destroyed linoxin Application filed June 21,

Specification of Letters Patented Jan. 17, 191-1.

1910. Serial no. 568,101.

(dried linseed oil) from atnnispheric action, 1 and to render this oil coat impermeable by gases and moisture. 1 these fine pigments-is to give hiding power or 1 opacity to the paint. It has been found par- 1 ticularly desirable. in this connection, to employ subliincd white lead for the major pig'- .mcm. since it is-not' only an exceedingly l ifiooo inch 'but. in addition, it is of great chemical stability. The lead carbonate pigments. either :orroded, preci iitated or mild process; are all active saponifying agents. yielding a paint coat. of short life and brittle compounds resultant fronrtliis action being subject to contraction. which causes the coat to split or c-heck." For general exterior use it is necessary to employ a hardening agent in the coat. because the coat made withsublimed white lead or other lead pigment alone is physicallv too soft to withstand abrasion. This hardness can be secured by the-addition of a varnish resin or gum, but more satisfactorily and with greater permanen e by the employment ofzinc 'oxid. In the manufacture of this improved climatic paint it has been found that the nsc'ol' fibrous magnesium silicate in the form. preferably. of comparatively long hail-like crystals of asbestos is desirable since ;it tends to remain in suspension and to keep the pigments likewise in snspensinn- A blend of fine pigments with pigments of moderately angular crystallinity is the only mix so far t'oum which b'ruslics uniformly. 'lhischaractcristic is of considerable commercial importanceand it is to secure a proper modification of this brushing character that the .fourth pigment. is added in the practice of this invention' The fourth pigment referred to is a matter t'or selection. the essential being that it should'lie-crystalline with rather obtuse angles, it having been shown that materials of acute angular fracture. as quartz or flint. exert too much of a retarding or holding intlucn'ce on the brush, thus mak- 5 ing the labor of application excessive. The available materials are as follows: Calcite (calcium carliionate), tale (a tubular magnesiunr silicate), china clay or kaolin (hybarium sulfate), aragonite and other forms of calcium carbonate, (a special significance is claimedjor calcium carbonate, in that it is generally believedthat it has the power of fine grained .mat'erial (diameter of particle or crumbly character on weatherin the drated aluminum silicate), barytes (native A furtherfunction. of

neutralizing the frec acids existing in the 011,) plaster of paris (anhydrous calcium sulfate), dolomite and other mixed carbonates. feldspar and other complex silicates.

The following formulae are tabulated for the \tlllOUS chmatic conditions, to-Wit:

Formula 1V0. ].:V0rmaZ.

Zinc oxid 18.25% Sublimed white lead 71. 00% Fibrous magnesium silicate -s 7. 75% A fourth pigment; s 3. 00%

Forum? No. 2.U,-mi(l.

Zinc oxid uhlimcd White lead s 60% Fibrous magnesium silicate 7% A fourth pigment 3% Formula N0. .l Dry.

An analysis of the foregoing formulae discloses that one'or more pi cuts of coarse grain are employed to gave, a requisite thickness of coat; that two pigments of extreme and uniform fineness of grain are employed to give opacity and impermeability, as well as-elasticity and durability, these being adjusted to control thehardness of the coat; that an'added crystalline material is utilized tomodify brushing; that a selection of materials is made to avoid destructive reaction by the pigments upon the oil; and that the same is a mix of nonpoisonous character.

It is highly desirable in paint which is packed ready for use to employ materials which .will remain in suspension throughout the fluid portion of the. mix. If this point is not observed, the paint can, when opened, contains two layers, the first, or lower layer, being often a hard, tough bed of pigments, very ditlicult to disintegrate by stirring. This separation, as indicated, is

1 very objectionable,'because if the can is in any way pierced or ruptured the fluid portion can escape therefrom, while if a highly I viscous condition of a mixed paint exists throughout the contents of the can a small opening does not allow the material to leak. Lead carbonate, bein a pigment of high specific gravity and omparative coarseness, settles to 5 the bottom of the can. On. the

otherhand, sublimed white lead, being of lowerspecific gravity and having intense fineness, and being of a more amorphous structure, remains in suspension, as does also the zinc 02nd. The fibrous magnesium silicate has the advantage of not only re-- maining in suspension itself, but of retaining the admixed pigments in suspension. The mechanism of this action is probably that the long, hairlike crystals of the asbestos interlace, very much like feathers in a pillow, thus flailing the entire mix. By the employment of this mixture, the necessity of rendering the liquid portion-viscous by the addition of njurious chemicals is avoided, and this is a matter of considerable importance, since the use of astringent or saponifying chemicals is a common practice among paint makers and it is well recognized that the result '0 such chemicals upon the durability of the paint coat is-unqualifiedly deleterious.

' One of the chief advantages of this systematized formula is, as I have discovered, that a paint made up of any given composition is limited, as to the maximum etficiency, to application within a narrow range of climatic conditions. Th 5, if apaint containing sutlieient zinc oxid to give a moderate hard coat is employed in an arid or even brilliantly sunlit climate, it will perish rapidly, by reason of the separation of the paint 'lcoat from the painted surface. On

much of a lead compound as to give a soft xpaint surface is used in a damp climate, it

will be rapidly permeated bymoisture and ases, frequently to the destruction, beneath file coat, of the painted material. It is thus obvious that, for any mix of given ingref the employment of dients, a certain proportion is best adapted for a particular climate, and it-is the failure previously to observe these facts which has prevented mixed paints from being generally used by the master painters.

lVithout specifically limiting myself to the foregoing, I claim:

As an article of manufacture, in combination with a suitable paint vehicle, a major pigmentof sublimed .White lead, zinc oxid, fibrous magnesium silicate, and a fourth pigment crystalline in character and of rather obtuse angular formation, the proportion, of zinc oxi'd being equal to or more than that of the fibrous magnesium silicate, and the proportion of fibrous magnesium silicate being somewhat greater than that of the fourth 

